Lakers fans are still reckoning with LeBron James joining the 76ers this past offseason, ending an eight-year run in Los Angeles.
While LeBron’s Lakers tenure didn’t end in the way fans had imagined, he still brought the franchise a championship.
But Los Angeles didn’t get to celebrate that championship in the way teams and cities get to every other season. James revealed he’s still upset about this during an episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast that was released on Friday.
“I still think about like not being able to do the parade. That bothers me,” James said when reflecting on the championship he won in 2020. Los Angeles wasn’t able to have a championship parade due to the COVID pandemic.
“Like, [on a scale of] 1 to 10 [on how much it bothers me]: 20… It would have been super duper dope, man,” James added.
James spoke glowingly of his time with the Lakers and the franchise during the podcast. At one point, he said, “When I came to the Lakers, [a lot of people said] I was just coming to be in Hollywood and do movies. But I’ve always loved a huge challenge, and to come to a historical franchise that has some of the greatest basketball players that we’ve ever seen in the history of sports. To be a part of that one was like a super duper big thing to me. It was super cool and humbling at the same time.”
He later added, “The expectations around here in Los Angeles when it comes to the Lakers is like, ‘Let’s win championships.’ And I heard that, and I understood that. And for us to be able to win one, that was something I would never forget. [To win] with that group, with that team, for this city.”
Regardless of how fans feel about James taking his talents to Philadelphia, he did more than enough to earn a standing ovation from his former franchise and fan base when the 76ers come to Crypto.com Arena on Christmas Day.
